N.J. poll: Christie hits all-time high

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s favorability rating has reached an all-time high, according to a new poll Tuesday.

For the first time since Christie took office in 2010, 50 percent of registered New Jersey voters have a favorable view of the Republican governor, a 4-point increase since late March, a Rutgers-Eagleton poll found. About four in 10 voters in the Garden State, 39 percent, have a negative view of their governor, while 11 percent say they don’t have an opinion.

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Christie’s boost in the polls comes mostly from male voters, the new survey found. In March, 49 percent of men and 43 percent of women had positive views of the governor. In Tuesday’s poll, Christie saw a 7-point favorability hike among the men, 56 percent of whom gave the governor a thumbs-up. Meanwhile, Christie’s approval rating went up just 2 points among the women since March.

The gender gap was even more pronounced in the negative ratings, with 45 percent of women and 31 percent of New Jersey voters saying they have negative opinions of the governor.

Christie’s favorability rating has also fared well among the independent voters in the state. Since March, the governor has seen a 12-point increase in favorability, from 43 to 55 percent. Meanwhile, his support among Republicans saw a slight decline, from 85 percent a few months ago to 79 percent.

A Public Policy Polling survey from April found that Christie is the Republican Party’s top pick for 2016 if Mitt Romney is not the nominee again. The governor had 21 percent of the votes, followed by Mike Huackabee and Jeb Bush, who both had 17 percent.

The Rutgers-Eagleton poll was conducted May 31-June 4 among 1,065 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.